Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait stated on Tuesday that 39 international non-resident e-commerce companies registered for VAT through the simplified system recently introduced by the Egyptian Tax Authority. More companies and electronic platforms are expected to register within the next few days.

The simplified value-added tax (VAT) registration system for non-resident vendors and electronic distribution platforms (EDPs), which sell electronic services and remote services to final consumers in Egypt, aims to enhance tax compliance efforts, achieve tax justice, and stimulate investment, Maait said.

Rami Youssef, Assistant Minister for Tax Policies, said that the companies which newly registered via the simplified VAT registration system include Amazon, Google, Bloomberg, Digital River, Meta, Facebook, Disney, Apple, eBay, Huawei, Netflix, and Samsung.

He added that there is no need to establish physical entities in Egypt for non-resident suppliers and EDPs. Through this simplified system, these companies can register for VAT via the Egyptian Tax Authority’s online portal, only after which they are obligated to pay the VAT on their remote services and electronic services to consumers.

Youssef explained that the simplified registration system for non-resident suppliers includes the submission of simplified tax returns for VAT, and simplified bookkeeping as well. This encourages non-resident suppliers and electronic distribution platforms to comply with the tax, and thus enhances the efficiency of the tax system in Egypt.

He pointed out that this step taken by the Egyptian Tax Authority is in line with global trends towards simplifying VAT compliance for non-resident suppliers and electronic distribution platforms. Many other countries in the world have implemented systems similar to this one.

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